Tag: cold calling

How to Struggle Less, While Making More Sales

by mike

Jeffrey Gitomer tells a great story about how he once bet a client his entire training fee on whether there were more than eight objections their sales team got on a regular basis.

The client, sure their sales cycle was more complicated and therefore required more advanced closing techniques, considered the bet: If the sales team could come up with more than eight standard objections, then Jeffrey would do the training for free.

If there were eight or less, then the client would pay him double his fee…

After the client thought about it, he declined Jeffrey’s offer, and then he polled the sales team, and here were their common objections:

#1: Too expensive (don’t have the budget)

#2: Have to get approval

#3: Need to think about it

#4: Going to use their old vendor

#5: Need to get several quotes

#6: They needed a different solution

#7:

#8:

Turns out, this company’s “complicated sale” had just six objections they got 90% of the time. It’s a good thing (for the client) he declined Jeffrey’s offer!

And this is the key to how you can struggle less and close more business.

Because your product or service also has a set number of objections (usually under eight), the easy way to make more sales is to script out two to three responses to these recurring objections, memorize them, and then use them each time you get into one of these selling situations.

This will GREATLY reduce the work you do, and it will lead to you closing (more easily) more business.

This is the real “secret” to becoming a top producer at your company or in your industry.

Make it easy on yourself and do this exercise today. If you need some help with your scripts, then click here. You’ll find over 500 proven scripts you can start using today!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Inbound Leads: Slam Dunks or Looky-loos?

by mike

What is a sales person’s dream? An inbound lead.

Someone has found your company, responded online or sent an email, and wants to know more about how you can help them.

A slam dunk deal, right?

Not so fast…

If you’ve been fielding inbound leads for a while, then you’ve probably noticed something: Not all inbound leads buy.

But how can this be? Didn’t the prospect reach out to me? Shouldn’t he/she be a deal?

Many sales reps today still make the mistake of taking “implied interest” in your company or service, to mean someone is interested, qualified, and ready to buy.

The way to capture a deal in this situation—if there is one—is to treat an inbound lead like any other: you need to qualify them.

Here are a few questions that will help you separate the slam dunks from the looky-loos:

“Thanks for reaching out to us today. Tell me, what motivated you to contact us?”

And

“I’m sure you’re looking at other companies, just out of curiosity, what is most important when choosing a company for this?”

And

“Who, besides yourself, is involved in making this decision?”

And

“After you’ve found the company that you think is best for you, what is your timeline for purchasing this?”

The next time you get an inbound lead, make sure and ask the questions above. It will help you decide who to spend your time with, versus who to let go of. And knowing that will save you a lot of aggravation later on.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Simple Habit to Improve Sales Today

by mike

Someone once said, “First we form habits, and then they form us.”

And in sales, this is especially true.

Here’s a quick example from a new client I’m working with now:

At the end of speaking with current accounts, the habit of the sales team is to ask: “If you need anything, please give me a call…”

Developing a better habit during this part of the call will greatly increase your sales. Here is what the reps should be saying in this situation:

“While I have you on the phone, what do you have coming up that you’d like me to check on for you?”

OR

“While we’re on the phone, what do you think you’ll be needing in the next couple of weeks?”

OR

“What are some of the things you order frequently that you’d like me to keep an eye out for?”

The difference here is that asking an account for a sale is the best way of getting a possible sale today.

While some clients might not need anything right then, some will! And how sweet will it be to get an instant order today, rather than calling back a month from now to find out they just ordered from someone else?

Habits.

When you break down your sales calls and begin looking for the habits that make up your pitch, ask yourself: What can you change to become more effective?

Chances are, there are many techniques that will have a huge impact on your sales results. Why not start with this one habit today?

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Metrics—Which One is Most Important?

by mike

Feeling a little overwhelmed by all the new sales tracking technology that seems to come out every month (almost every week)?

If you’re like most companies, then you’ve probably got enough technology in place to measure just about everything: talk time, conversion rates, number of demos being given, lead flow and lead placement in the funnel—top end, middle, and end stage of leads.

And now with A.I., you can automate just about everything else—including phone calls, voice mails, email campaigns, etc.

While working with a new client last week, his management team was asking me which metrics they should focus on as they begin adopting the new best practice approaches we introduced.

Should they look at the increase in leads (or decrease because the leads will now be more qualified) or the number of opportunities?

Should they drill down on length of presentations?

How about numbers of calls? Contacts? Length of the first call?

While all things are important, my suggestion was to focus on the one metric that drives all the others: How the rep is performing while on the call.

What I stressed is using recordings to measure how well a rep handles each part of the phone call. For example, what does your team say when they are told to “Just email me something”?

How about: “We wouldn’t be interested right now?”

How well does your sales team respond to the objection given at the end of the demo: “Can you send me those slides and let me share this with a colleague?”

Measuring your team’s response to these crucial selling situations is what drives everything else, especially your bottom line: Sales.

So here are some questions for you (whether you are a sales manager or V.P. or business owner):

**Are you consistently listening to your team’s calls, grading them, and using the lessons learned to help them perform better each and every day?

If not, then don’t think that if they just make more calls or get more leads or schedule more demos, then you’ll improve your team’s closing percentage and make more sales.

They won’t.

What they will do is waste more time and resources and generate more frustration.

What you need to do is improve your team’s skills sets and improve the way they deal with the common selling situations they get over and over again.

And once you do that, you’ll finally move the needle on all the other metrics of your sales team.

So, begin paying attention to and measuring the most important metric of all: How your team responds to the recurring selling situations they get day in and day out.

If you’d like to know how to improve those skills, then get your team into my new on-demand inside sales training! See it here.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Close More Sales with this Training Program

by mike
Teamwork concept. People working with new startup project in modern loft. Life in office.

The dog days of summer are quickly approaching…

Why not use them to upgrade your team’s selling skills so they can hit the third and fourth quarter hard?

Check out our best inside sales training available on the Internet: On-Demand Training!

Here’s an example of a training tip that you’ll learn, and that I used, to handle a frustrating objection I used to get all the time: “The price is outside of our budget.”

If you get this objection—while closing or qualifying—then the worst thing you can do is try to answer or overcome it.

Why?

Because 80% of the time this objection is just a smokescreen hiding something else. And until you find out what’s really holding your prospect back, you’ll just go around and around in circles.

Sound familiar?

So here’s what you need to do: Isolate the objection before you attempt to overcome it.

Here’s a simple technique that will allow you to do just that:

Whenever your prospect says, “That price is outside of our budget,” simply respond with:

“And besides price, what else is holding you back?”

And then hit your MUTE button and listen very carefully for the real objection—or objections—that are holding your prospect back.

The reason this technique—among others you’ll learn in my on-demand training—took my sales career to a new level is because by using it I avoided talking past the close and chasing what wasn’t even the real objection!

It forced me to listen rather than ad-lib poor sales techniques—perhaps some of the things your team is doing right now…

And it taught me to identify what the real objection was, so I could focus on that. And only when I understood what was really holding my prospect back did I begin to close more sales.

And your team can too. Use this technique the next time you get the price objection and watch as you get more control over the sales process and uncover the real reason(s) your prospect isn’t moving forward yet.

And if you’d like to learn even more proven techniques, including how to:

  • Eliminate call reluctance
  • Glide past gatekeepers
  • Prospect more effectively
  • Qualify prospects more easily
  • Deliver killer presentations that lead to more closed sales
  • Overcome objections
  • And much, much more!

Then give your team access to my award winning inside sales training!

Sign up here!

Just remember: The sooner you invest in your team and your company, the sooner they’ll close more sales and consistently make more money.

And isn’t that what you wake up in the morning trying to do 5 or 6 days a week?

Invest in sales team today!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

One Difference Between Top Sales Reps and You

by mike

Each time I work with a new company, the first thing I ask for are recordings of both their top two or three sales reps, and then recordings of everyone else.

And each time I do, I immediately identify one thing that the top reps are doing that the other reps aren’t.

I’ve been doing this for over 30 years, and things have remained constant during that time: top sales reps are better for many different reasons (personality, work effort, etc.), but they all share this one thing.

And it is…

They are assumptive.

Most sales reps beat around the bush and are timid, hesitant, and resistant to taking control of the call.

In other words, they often ask for permission, rather than be assumptive.

An example is how most sales reps open their calls. When greeted by the receptionist, they’ll ask:

“Ah, would it be possible to speak with Dave Anderson?”

OR

“Is Dave Anderson available?”

What these approaches have in common is they are passive, and they give the gatekeeper control of the call.

Top reps, on the other hand, are assumptive. Given the example above, this translates to:

“Hi, Dave Anderson, please.”

OR

“Hi, could I speak with Dave, please?”

OR

“Oh hi. Could you connect me with Dave, please?”

While this may not sound like a big difference, IT IS.

There are many other examples of this (too many for this limited blog post), and if you would like a book full of them, then check this out.

Otherwise, listen to your own recordings and see where and when you give control of the conversation to the prospect. Chances are, you do it much more frequently than is good for your sales results….

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Best Thing to Do After You Write a Deal?

by mike

Writing a deal (making a sale), is an exhilarating thing, and there are many ways to celebrate.

Some companies have a deal board where you can write down your latest sale so the other team members can see it.

Other companies have a bell to ring, so, again, other team members can be encouraged by your success.

I’ve seen some reps strut around the office, stopping at their workmate’s desk to share their glory or tell the (often long) story of how that deal went down.

Some sales reps go directly into the kitchen where they’ll find a group of other reps—and even a manager or two—and they share the good news there.

Other reps may go down to the café or coffee shop and treat themselves to a latte or piece of pie.

Question: What do all of these forms of celebration have in common?

Answer: They all take you (and your successful energy) away from your desk—and your next pitch.

Years ago, when I was telling the fourth sales rep of my latest big sale, my manager pulled me aside and asked me if I was excited by my successful close. “Heck yeah!” I replied.

He then suggested that my next presentation might benefit from the success and momentum I had. He said that wasting that on other sales reps (and taking them off the phone) was a waste of that energy, and that the best thing I could do after making a sale was to pick up the phone and make another one.

I was a little offended by this, but I took his advice and channeled my energy into my next pitch, and guess what? I closed that deal, too!

And that’s when I got it. “Strike while the iron’s hot,” the expression is.

Nothing breeds success like success, and prospects and clients can feel when you’re successful. And they want to buy from someone who is enthusiastic and successful.

So, the next time you close a sale, stay at your desk! Pick the phone up and keep that momentum going!

Remember: The best time to make a sale is right after you’ve made one!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

Happy With Who We’re Using

by mike

This blog post is for those of you who haven’t purchased and read any of my book of scripts yet (what are you thinking? 🙂 )

For those of you who are prospecting, this objection, “We’re happy with who we’re using,” is something you most likely encounter often.

The question is: what do you say to it?

This objection—like all others—is a perfect one to script an effective response to, and here is one of my favorites:

Objection: “We’re happy with who we’re using” (Or any variation like, “We’re all set”):

Response: “That’s perfectly OK; I didn’t expect you to be in the market today. In fact, because you already have someone, this is the perfect time to compare prices and services with other vendors. That way, when you do have a need to look elsewhere, you’ll have a solid option already vetted.

“Let me ask you this….”

And then use a qualifying question regarding what they use, how often they order, etc.

Bonus response:

“No worries, I’m not going to sell you anything today. Instead, I simply want to give you some information so if things change—and let’s face it, they change all the time—you’ll at least know who to reach out to.

“Let me ask you this….”

Again, use a qualifying question regarding what they use, how often they order, etc.

If you would like eight other proven response, visit here.

Remember: throughout your sales process, you get the same seven to ten objections, stalls, and put-offs over and over again.

Want to be a top producer? Then stop making up an answer to them, and “ace” them by being prepared with proven scripts.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

“How are you today?” Use it or Ditch it?

by mike

How do you open your calls?

Do you ask, “How are you today?” or do you use a different opening?

There was a time when I was against using the worn-out opening of, “How are you today?” and provided a slew of different options—all of which had their place, and some of which I still use, on occasion, today.

But after years of cold calling (and calling clients back), I have found that I revert back to this standard opening again and again. And here’s why:

  1. While I used to think it signals that a sales call is coming, what I’ve discovered is that people are so used to hearing—and answering—this question, they don’t really register it. Instead, they just respond.
  2. (And here is the key): The real use of this question is to gage carefully the receptiveness of your prospect and then to respond accordingly.

Let’s dive into #2 a bit more. If you make calls for a living, then you know you can tell exactly what kind of mood a prospect is in simply by listening to how they answer the question, “How are you today?”

You can tell by their tone of voice if they are annoyed at being interrupted; or are bored and happy to have the interruption; are receptive to speaking with you; are not receptive; are in a good mood; are not in a good mood; will engage with you, and even ask how you are in return; are not interested in engaging, etc.

The reason this opening is so important is that it gives you instant feedback as to your prospect’s state of mind—and willingness to engage with you.

Second, because this is inside sales, and you can’t see your prospect’s face, you need this feedback so you know how to respond.

So, while some may think this is a worn out opening that signals a sales call (and, yes, I used to feel that way), I now know it is the most efficient opening to use—if you’re willing to truly listen and respond to your prospect’s mood. For example:

If you hear irritation or a rushed attitude, simply preface your next statement with, “I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll be brief…”

If they ask you how you are doing, always, start with, “Thanks for asking! I’m doing well also. Is it still hot out there?” And engage a bit and build rapport…

Bottom line, there is a lot in an opening line, and “How are you today?” will give you a ton of feedback—if you’re willing to listen carefully to not only the response you get, but to how that response is given.

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today

One Question to Learn Buying Motive

by mike

How is your first quarter turning out so far?

Closing lots of business and exceeding your quota? Or are you struggling to catch up and hoping for a strong March?

If you or your team is struggling, a cause might be a fundamental flaw that many sales teams suffer from: failure to understand—and pitch to—a prospect’s unique buying motive.

Let’s review the sales process briefly:

  1. Recognizing all buyers of products and services have specific needs (buying motives) they are looking to fulfill.
  2. Not everyone’s buying motives are the same. The best way to sell someone is to fully understand what their buying motives are and then to:
  3. Pitch to each buyer’s specific needs.
  4. Then, as you do, you use carefully placed tie-downs and trial closes to build a yes momentum that leads to the close.

That’s the essential process of sales. Of course, there are nuances and specific techniques to master the above steps at a high level, and that’s why you train…

But, let me tell you what I have found to be the major problem for teams and individual sales reps who are not making their numbers:

They never understand exactly what each prospect’s unique buying motive is, and so they just keep pitching, hoping that what they say will match up somehow with what a prospect wants to hear.

Two problems with this approach:

  1. Many prospects aren’t buying regardless, and so if you just keep pitching without understanding their buying motive—or worse, haven’t identified that this prospect doesn’t have a buying motive you can fulfill—then you’re wasting everyone’s time.
  2. If you have failed to understand exactly what a specific prospect’s buying motive is, then you won’t be able to speak directly to it, build the appropriate amount of value, and you’ll miss step 5 above and risk talking past the close—and yourself out of a deal.

How would you like one magic question that will reveal to you each prospect’s buying motive? Here it is:

“{first name}, let me ask you: what specifically are you hoping a (product or service) like ours will do for you at this time?”

That’s it! Now, listen carefully to the answer, and ask yourself honestly: Can your product or service give them exactly what they are looking for? If so, pitch directly to it. Use tie-downs to see if you’re getting closer to making a sale. Shift to trial closes mid-way through your close. And if you’re getting buy in, then assume the close!

This one question, combined with the 4-step process above, will elevate your close ratio and help your entire team make their quota.

Try it today!

Need More Proven Responses to the Selling Situations You Face Every Day?

ON DEMAND SALES TRAINING THAT GETS RESULTS!

If your team is struggling with call reluctance and is tired of the endless rejection they face, then get instant access to our On Demand training today. We provide the exact talk tracks, templates, and proven tools your team will be motivated to apply, all structured around an award winning comprehensive inside sales approach that gives your team the confidence to succeed in every selling situation they face today.

Unlimited License: One to 100 reps can attend for one low price!

Perfect for reps dealing with the following issues:

  • Reps struggling with call reluctance
  • Getting screened out by the gatekeeper
  • Overcoming blow off objections like, “Just email me something”
  • Identifying decision makers
  • Qualifying prospects
  • Setting call back appointments that stick
  • Giving successful presentations and dealing with objections
  • Staying motivated
Get Access Today